God sometimes gives us unexpected gifts. Our gift has been a grandson who enlivens our lives and makes retirement very different than the one we anticipated. He is a special joy. And that's "Casey." In 2006 we fulfilled our dream of living in Italy for a year. It was every bit as wonderful as anticipated. This blog begins in 2005 as we prepared for that experience. Since then we have explored many places together. That's the "Travel." And finally, I am a person of opinions--spiritually, politically, on just about anything and that's the "Other Stuff." Welcome to my blog.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What To Do With Last Night's Salmon?

Simple things in life excite me--safariing in Kenya, climbing the Great Wall of China, swimming in the Ecuadoran Amazon and....making a successful left-over dish--which was last night's ego builder. First, I am not much of a chef or even a cook. Sometimes I do wonders but other times am happy if whatever it is is edible. Certainly left-overs are not a forte and Monday was my first venture with salmon which is probably why I bought twice as much as needed.

Last night I didn't know what to do with a very good piece of left over fish and knew I couldn't reach friend Cindy in Alaska for pointers. So, I turned to the ever trustworthy internet for guidance. After sifting through lots of ideas, mostly for croquettes which I knew would not be received well, I found a recipe that sounded good and for which I, surprisingly, had all the ingredients on hand. It turned out to be a real find--good enough to feel the need to share. So here it is--straight from Gourmet by way of Recipezaar.

CAPELLINI WITH SALMON AND LEMON-DILL-VODKA SAUCE

Serves 4-6

1 onion chopped

1 TBS olive oil

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup vodka

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup dill, chopped (I cut back on this)

1 1/2 tsps. lemon zest

2 TBS lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups salmon-flaked (or whatever you have)

10 ounces capellini (angel hair)

In a large saucepan cook onion in the oil, over medium heat until soft (5-8 minutes)

Add broth, cream, vodka and salt and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until sauce is reduced to 2 cups (45-60 minutes)

Remove from heat and still in dill, lemon zest, juice and pepper. Reserve 1/2 cup of sauce.

Add salmon to saucepan and cook over medium low heat until fish is heated through (2-4 minutes.)

Meanwhile cook pasta according to package directions.

Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta

Return pasta to pot and toss with reserved sauce and cooking water (I just did this in the bowl.)

Put pasta in large bowl and spoon fish sauce over top; toss before serving.

Enjoy

Now, not being a professional at sharing food or recipes I again committed a cardinal sin--no picture of the product. Among my foodie friends, this is a not to be forgiven mistake but what can I do?

Well, since writing this, I enjoyed some left over left over so--a picture.

1 comment:

Sounds delicious, Jane! Personally I get very excited when I manage to put together a meal of things that I have in cabinets or tucked in the back of the freezer. I am a bad planner so any meal that is cooked without a trip to the grocery store is a victory! :)